Top 10 Startup Accelerators in New York City

New York’s tech ecosystem (Silicon Alley) currently ranks at number two in the country, only behind Silicon Valley. Silicon Alley’s dynamic growth since the mid-2000s has been made possible by NYC’s large capital stock and a developed financial market, efficient technical infrastructure, but also a developed system of startup accelerators. Startup accelerators are fixed-term programs that help early-stage or growth-stage startups turn into fully-fledged companies and attract the investment needed for further development. Here are the top ten NYC accelerators that your startup company should definitely consider at its seed stage.

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Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator (ERA) is one of New York’s largest accelerators, which runs two four-month programs that grant early-stage startups seed capital, co-working space, and mentorship support of over 300 expert investors, marketers, sales execs and product specialists.

Each accepted company receives $100,000 in funding and becomes eligible for follow-on funding from the ERA’s Fund. As an added benefit, successful companies get many sponsor benefits such as web hosting credits from major CSPs (Cloud Service Providers), payment platforms (e.g. PayPal, Stripe), free legal support, one year of free phone service, free banking account from Silicon Valley Bank, and tons of other perks. ERA boasts a portfolio of successful alumni companies that collectively raised $250 million in investor capital and involve such names as Makers Alley, Wizpert, Payfully, DocFlight, and more.

Grand Central Tech (GCT) provides its startups with free office space for one year, with a zero-equity fee to participate in the program. In exchange for these perks, GCT startups commit to take on at least one intern from GCT’s internship program and stay in the GCT building, provided that doing so is not deleterious to their business. To accommodate its growing pool of startups, GCT offers a 40,000 sq. ft. of coworking space at competitive rates. Also, GCT provides its member startups with world-class support resources, including legal and accounting support, PR, and dedicated recruiting services free of charge or at discounted rates.

In its evaluation criteria, GCT prefers big ideas for lucrative markets and aims at nurturing connections between New York’s established companies and entrepreneurs. Since its foundation, the accelerator has created an impressive roster of local startups, including SpokenLayer, Nineteenth Amendment, Modalyst, and more.

TechStars is a worldwide accelerator network founded in Boulder, Colorado in 2007. Since its establishment, the accelerator has expanded to major cities, including New York, where it runs three 3-month programs. TechStars attracts young companies with its massive investment resources and a great track record of successful startups, including such companies as DigitalOcean, Localytics, and over 1000 other startups, which collectively raised over $ 3.9 billion.

For accepted companies, TechStars offers a $100,000 convertible note and instant funding of $20,000 in exchange for 6% of common stock. The support package also includes access to the TechStars network, mentorship resources, 400 perks worth over $1M, office space, and equity back guarantee that permits participating companies to repurchase some or all of the equity purchased by TechStars at the same price per share as paid by TechStars.

Founded in 2010, AngelPad is a successful San Francisco-based accelerator that expanded to NYC in 2013. Every six months, the accelerator selects about 15 startups from an impressively large pool of applications. Lucky companies become eligible for a 12-week accelerator program that involves preparation for fundraising, finding a target market, and participating in investor meetings. Each company that enters AngelPad receives $50K + $4K per founder in exchange for 7% in equity.

AngelPad was ranked the number one accelerator each year since 2015 by MIT, Brown University, and the University of Richmond, which evaluate over 160 U.S. accelerators each year to determine the top-performing programs. Since its establishment, AngelPad supported 130 startups in almost any tech vertical including SaaS, Advertising, API, Mobile, Data, B2B, and Healthcare.

Blueprint Health is a niche three-month accelerator program for HealthTech startups. Each year, twenty healthcare companies that pass the selection process receive $20,000 and office space in a Soho loft in exchange for 6% of their equity. Blueprint Health usually ends up with less than 4% of common stock after a seed round.

The entrants receive high-quality mentorship from the leading HealthTech experts, including ZocDoc and Oscar Health. The accelerator also provides marketing and sales pitch mentorship and introduces its startups to the network of partners, investors, and clients. Since its foundation, BluePrint Health has worked with over 60 companies, including their notable alumni such as AdhereTech and CredSimple. Eighty percent of the companies that Blueprint Health has worked with are still in business, and 85% of these companies are generating revenue. The startup accelerator will be accepting applications for their 2018 program starting in January, 2018.

Dreamit is a growth-focused accelerator that runs a 16-week program for post-seed, pre-Series A startups with market-ready products in the areas of healthcare and UrbanTech (real estate tech, construction tech, IoT). The accelerator typically invests between $25,000 and $500,000 in participating companies in exchange for a 5- to 8-percent equity share, but there is also a zero equity option. In this case, Dreamit won’t take any equity but will invest $250,000 during a seed funding round.

Dreamit funds startups via two programs: Dreamit Health and Dreamit UrbanTech. The first one is a top-ranked healthcare accelerator that focuses on B2B and B2C startups which have deployed a product in the areas of med devices, digital health, and diagnostics.

Dreamit UrbanTech supports startups in real estate tech, construction tech, IoT, and other UrbanTech spheres. During a 14-week program, UrbanTech startups have an opportunity to interface with the $3B Tampa Bay Urban Redevelopment Initiative, which is one of the largest real estate development projects in North America.

FinTech Innovation Lab is a highly competitive 12-week program that helps early-stage FinTech startups. The program was founded by the Partnership for New York City and Accenture to help young startups establish connections with the leading financial service firms. Companies issue common stock warrants of 0.5% of fully diluted equity to the Partnership Fund in order to participate in the program. Selected companies receive mentoring from leading firms and VCs, insights from senior figures and user groups in the financial sector, weekly workshops and panel discussions on wide ranging topics and workspace, if a company chooses. To this date, 140+ companies that joined FinTech Innovation Lab collectively raised $863+ million.

Betaworks is an NYC-based startup platform that funds early-stage tech companies developing products in the niches of Bots, AI, Verbal Computing, and Augmented Reality. The accelerator runs three Camp programs in these segments: botcamp, visioncamp, and voicecamp. Each camp includes 11 weeks in residence at Betaworks, during which its mentors help early-stage companies with product development, data science, branding, and fundraising. Betaworks grants startups a relatively large pre-seed funding in the amount of $200,000.

The accelerator markets itself as a highly specialized startup studio that focuses on quality over quantity. Since its foundation, Betaworks has created a portfolio of highly successful startups in the areas of social media and AI. Among the notable names, one should mention Giphy (the search engine for GIFs), Poncho (a popular weatherbot), and Dexter (a bot-building platform).

MetaProp NYC is a growth accelerator that focuses on real estate startups. The companies participating in MetaProp’s 22-week program get access to a minimum of $50,000 investments plus an opportunity to get additional $200,000 after the program. In exchange for this generous seed funding, MetaProp NYC asks for 3-6% equity depending on a company stage.

The program’s perks include free access to Class A office space, participation in exclusive Demo Days and industry roundtables, as well as support from MetaProp’s RE200 industry mentor network that includes experts covering each of the ten major real estate areas. Companies selected for the program have privileged access to corporate program partners (potential clients) and various free services valued at over $200,000.

NYC Digital Health Innovation Lab was founded by the Partnership for New York City and the New York eHealth Collaborative to support growth-stage companies that have already developed a market-ready solution. Each year, a review committee comprised of hospital leadership, technology experts, clinicians, and investors selects up to ten companies for participation in the New York Digital Health Innovation Lab. Each company selected by the committee is paired with a provider organization or multiple provider organizations whose activities match a product or a service developed by the startup. Since its establishment, the Lab has supported 27 alumni companies, which raised over $250 million and created over 160 high tech jobs in NYC.